


Culture Shock

by Glitter_Lips



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Crack and Angst, Humor, IDW darkness and Rescue Bots bein kiddos, M/M, Multi, The Talk, basically what would happen, if you put the darkest and lightest series of a franchise together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2020-06-02 09:36:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19438750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glitter_Lips/pseuds/Glitter_Lips
Summary: Megatron, Rodimus, Minimus, and Whirl fall through a portal to the universe of the Rescue Bots half way through their battle with the DJD. With Whirl badly injured and no way back, the bots are forced to live with the all too innocent Rescue Bots who have no idea about the darkness their war and species are capable of.It will be a learning experience for everyone.





	1. Chapter 1

“Frag! Frag, frag, frag!!! Slag me in the aft! Primus!!” Whirl shouted profanities as he fell through the weird… portal thingy. He didn’t even notice that he happened to land on organic grass. Rodimus, Megatron, and Maximus following him through, landing roughly as well. Whirl continued to yell every cuss he could think of in any language he knew. “Fuck!” 

“Whirl will you shut the- oh no.” The reason for the helicopter’s shrieking became very apparent when Megatron actually took a moment to look at him. There was a large gash from the center of his abdominal plating out, seeming to nearly cut him in half. One of his legs was hanging on to his pelvis by a single cable, the other seemed to have been a victim of Helex’s smelting chassis as it looked half melted. Energon was pooling around him rapidly as he writhed in pain.  
“Slag,” Megatron whispered. “Ambus, hold him down. Rodimus, try to find help or a welding torch or anything - just hurry.” 

Maximus hurried to follow orders, not even noticing his captain’s grammatical error. 

Rodimus, too stunned to move for a moment, shook his head furiously before looking around to try to find something or someone to help. Don’t panic. Focus. He drowned out Whirl’s shouting and Megatron’s attempts to stop the bleeding with his limited medical knowledge. First thing he noticed is they definitely seemed to be on Earth but he couldn’t figure out where exactly. It was warm and looked like a small town. They seemed to be on a yard rather than field with many buildings around them. The closest was large and made from red bricks. The sign at the front read “Griffin Rock Fire Department” and was that? It was! An Autobot sigil. Rodimus sighed and thanked Primus. They had Autobots or were at least Autobot friendly. He ran to the building and knocked hard on the walls trying to get the attention of anyone inside. 

“Someone please help us!” He shouted and watched as an older looking human with a grey mustache ran outside, looking incredibly shocked. Rodimus kneeled down to get closer to the man’s level. “Please! We’re Autobots,” he pointed to the sigil on his chassis, “we need help. My teammate is hurt and we need supplies and probably a lot of energon.” He spoke frantically, gesturing to Whirl struggling behind them.

When the human looked at the bot’s mangled form his eyes went wide with terror. “Oh dear,” he covered his mouth before looking back at Rodimus who’s optics had turned pleading. 

By now Whirl had stopped yelling and was breathing shallowly, groaning and gasping in pain occasionally. He was trying to escape Maximus’ giant grasp and avoiding Megatron’s touches as much as possible. 

“Dammit, Whirl! I’m trying to help you,” he growled, pressing a servo to the gash on the copter’s waist and with his other trying to push the dangling leg back into place unsuccessfully. Whirl was in too much pain to speak at this point but he did narrow his optic at the other. 

“I’ll be right back.” The human said, running back into the building causing Rodimus to sigh again. 

He slumped before knocking himself out of it. He needed to help and protect his crewmates so he rushed over to three bots. “Help is on the way, anything else I can do?”

Where had those bots come from? How had they gotten so hurt? Even though not all of them seemed as bad as the one that had been yelling, they were all scuffed up and bleeding. He knew these aliens were at war but was it really that bad? He rushed down to where all the Rescue Bots were hanging out. 

“What was all that yelling?” Heatwave immediately asked. 

“It’s Cybertronians, hurt bad, they need immediate medical help, do you have bandages or other equipment on the ship you came down in?” The chief hurried to ask. 

“Are they Autobot or Decepticon?” Chase asked. The chief almost condemned him for asking and caring; the war really must be that bad. 

“Decepticons?” Blades cowered in on himself. 

“No, no, they are Autobots but we need to hurry. I don’t know how much longer they’re going to survive.” Chief Burns said with as much urgency as he could pour into his voice. 

Heatwave nodded and went through the tunnel to their old ship, Boulder following behind to help him find everything. 

“I’d like to meet them,” Chase instructed. 

The chief nodded. “Alright, I’ll warn you though, it’s a gory sight.” He walked out, Chase and a timid Blades following. 

When they were outside, the chief pointed to the three Autobots huddling around a fourth bot that they couldn’t quite see from where they were. He then hurried back inside to let his children know what was going on and not to go outside, as well as calling and alerting the mayor to their newest guests. 

Chase and Blades exchanged a look before walking over, Blades wringing his servos together nervously. Rodimus was the first to spot them and he sprung to his feet. 

“Oh, thank Primus! Do you have anything to help us?!” He gasped out.  
“Our friends are finding supplies as we speak,” Chase assured. 

“Whirl! Whirl, stay with us! Frag!!” The shouting drew the three bots’ attention to the scene before them. Blades gasped and whimpered and Chase’s optics went wide at the sight. Whirl had lost an alarming amount of energon and his optic had dimmed considerably. His helm lolled to the side and his struggling lessened. 

“Heatwave!” Chase shouted, making Blades flinch. 

Maximus Ambus held Whirl’s helm and tried to shake him awake. “Come on, Whirl. Do not give up now.” 

Megatron continued applying pressure, doing everything he could. Heatwave and Boulder came running out with what looked like first aid boxes. They both stopped and gaped at the horrific sight. 

Rodimus yanked the supplies from their servos and ran over to Whirl, opening both. 

“Get me a torch,” Megatron instructed. 

Rodimus rushed to obey, digging around until he found a heat torch and handed it over.

Megatron set to work welding Whirl’s leg back onto his pelvis. He didn’t know much but he knew enough from working in the mines and having to heal his or others’ serious injuries that wouldn’t have gotten treated in time by real medics. Also, wanting to be a medic led him to read little bits and pieces of books that he could find when he was bored. “Right when we get Ratchet back, he’s not here to help.” Megatron mumbled under his breath. As soon as he was finished with the leg and the bleeding had stopped enough he went to work on his waist.

“We are going to need energon,” Maximus requested. Chase quickly nodded, hurrying inside to set some out. 

When Megatron finished and had done all he could with the things he had, he stood. Maximus lifted Whirl off the ground and the Rescue Bots lead them inside in silence. The passed out mech was laid down on a berth carefully. Chase hurried over with energon and they poured it into his intake. 

“I did everything I could. Now we just need to let him rest and hope his internals heal on their own.” Megatron announced, feeling exhaustion wash over him.

As adrenaline wore off, the three freshly out of battle mechs slumped slightly. Maximus cleared his vocalizer, drawing everyone’s attention to the fact that he had to duck to stand in the room. Rodimus couldn’t help giggling at that, both amused at the sight and feeling uncomfortable, making Maximus roll his optics. 

“Will someone please help me out of this armor?” He requested. 

“You know I’m always willing to undress you.” Rodimus teased, winking. Maximus rolled his optics again and Megatron pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Is all you can think about interfacing? Whirl almost died.” The ex-warlord asked exasperatedly. 

“You know you like it, Megatron,” Rodimus continued, pulling his most smoldering look.

“Megatron?!” Blades shrieked and the three other Rescue Bots went into battle ready stances. 

Megatron sighed heavily and held out his sevo. “Please, I’m not going to hurt you. The war is over and I am an Autobot now.” He gestured to the sigil on his chassis, realizing that these bots must be very out of the loop if they didn’t recognize him on site. 

Heatwave narrowed his optics. “What do you mean ‘the war is over?’” Three sets of optic ridges shot up. 

“No one told you?” Rodimus asked, surprised. Confusion pulsed heavily from everyone’s EM fields. 

“The war ended quite a while ago.” Maximus explained, “we can give you all of the details over a glass of energon but I can assure you that Megatron will not harm you. You have my word.” He swore, laying a servo over his spark. 

Heatwave slowly nodded and lowered his fists, the others following his lead. Without much battle or deceit, the Rescue Bots were quick to trust. 

“Thank you,” Megatron nodded, lacing his servos behind his back, hoping to portray as little aggressive body language as possible. Heatwave gave Megatron a skeptical once-over before leaving the room. 

“I will go let the chief know that he is… stable.” Chase said, gesturing to Whirl’s recharging form.

“Wonderful. In the meantime, Rodimus.” Maximus gestured to himself and the captain nodded, both of them getting to work on taking the armor off. Boulder and Blades watched in curiosity as Rodimus was forced to get on his very tippy-toes to undo the shoulder and helm armor, even with Maximus crouching down low. The armor came away to reveal a ridiculously small green bot. 

“That is fascinating,” Boulder gaped. “How do you carry all of that?” 

“My spark is a load-bearer,” Minimus started to explain, “I can carry a very immense amount of weight.” 

“Cool! Like Earth’s ants.” Blades exclaimed. 

“We are sorry to inconvenience you further, but would you mind if we recharge here? We did just get out of battle. We will find our way back when we are healed enough to travel.” Minimus requested. 

“Oh, uh, of course,” Blades stuttered nervously. “Take any of the berths in here.” Minimus nodded gratefully and they all laid down for recharge.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whirl and Blades meet properly!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all I have written so far so a third update may be a while in the making. I am too impatient and excited to wait to post though.

Whirl woke up in pain, achy and sharp at the same. He took a hissing breath in and onlined his optic. 

“Oh, sorry if I woke you,” he heard a soft voice say timidly. 

He looked to see a white and orange bot with a wash rag. It looked like he had been cleaning him. Whirl could only groan in response. 

“You were hurt pretty bad,” the bot continued to wipe the grime from Whirl, making sure to be extra gentle on his injuries. “I’m Blades by the way.” 

Whirl nodded, clearing his vocalizer to try to speak. “Where am I?” He rasped out. 

“Earth. Do you want me to get your friends?” Blades inquired.

Whirl burst out a laugh, wincing when it hurt, but he couldn’t help it. “I don’t have any friends.” 

The other mech frowned deeply. “But… they…” he shook his helm, “I’ll just get them anyway.” 

As the bot left the room, Whirl sighed. Earth, huh? He’d heard about it from some of the Wreckers who’d been there. How did he even get here? All he could remember was being grabbed by Helex and from there it was just painful confusion and fighting to survive. 

“Whirl,” Megatron entered the room quietly with Blades nowhere in sight. 

“Aye, Buckethead, you came all the way to Earth just for little ole me?” It hurt for Whirl to speak but he couldn’t help but comment on his own unimportance.   
Megatron shook his head and sighed - he certainly did that an awful lot as of late. “We fell through the portal with you. Do you have any recollection of how we ended up here?”

“I remember a lot of pain and a lot of light,” Whirl supplied, somehow portraying a bitten lip through his one optic. As he said this he remembered his last moments of the battle in Helex’s grasp and flinched. With a deep breath he looked down at his battered frame. He was littered in welding lines and wrapped up in improvised bandages made of organic fabrics. He was covered in rusting energon and dented badly, but the worst was the missing bottom half of one of his legs.

“That’s unfortunate,” he whispered to himself.

“The Rescuebots are scavenging what they can from their ship to try and construct you a new leg,” Megatron supplied quickly before Whirl could panic.

“Rescuebots? Like the combiner? How'd they end up here?” Whirl asked, properly distracted.

Megatron shook his head. “Turns out we didn't just travel through space, but into an entirely different universe where the group we have here are the Rescuebots and do not combine. The Autobots and Decepticons are still fighting here on Earth as well, but in a different state.”

“Not again!” Whirl shouted jovially.

Megatron have a sharp exvent through his nose in the mimic of a laugh. “Again indeed.”

Whirl hummed before dimming his optic and falling into recharge without even noticing his own succumbing to exhaustion.

Whirl woke again to soft murmuring through the walls and a cleaner frame. All of the dried energon had been wiped from his body his self-repair had smoothed out the previously harsh welding lines. His leg, however, was still cut off at the joint. Belatedly, he recognized that this was not the first time his leg had been removed from his body.

As he reminisced about the horrors of his life before the war, Blades walked in.

“Hey, Sweetcheeks!” Whirl greeted.

Blades jumped slightly, seemingly not having noticed Whirl was awake. He then tilted his head to the side in confusion. “My name is Blades. Are your memory programs processing properly?”

Whurl cackled. “My memory is working well enough to remember your bubble butt. Hey! Alliteration! Bubble Butt Blades,” Whirl moved his claw in an arch above him as if tracing the title. His shoulder joint groaned in protest but he was practiced in ignoring pain for comedic effect.

Blades blushed a bright pink with wide optics, “I don’t… uh,” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. 

“Whirl! Stop traumatizing the poor kid!” Rodimus yelled from the other room.

Whirl's back bowed off the berth with his cackle before spasming in pain from the sudden, harsh movement. 

Rodimus’ chastising snapped Heatwave out of his simmering rage due to Whirl's flirting. “What’s he trying to do? Does he like making the ‘bots who helped him uncomfortable?” Heatwave snapped, still glowering at the archway separating them from the quickly constructed medbay.

“Yeah,” Rodimus replied with a shrug.

“Apologies, some of our front-line soldiers have left the war more jaded and insensitive than others. As a former member of the Wreckers, Whirl has emerged rather… without filter.” Minimus cringed at his less than satisfactory explanation. They all knew well that Whirl’s psychotic break took place well before the war even started, but few knew the specifics and it didn’t seem worth sharing.

“I apologize for his behaviour, but we must discuss ways for us to return to our universe as well as make ourselves useful in the meantime,” Megatron interjected. “While we are anxious to get back to our crew, we will do what we can to repay you for your generosity and earn our keep until that becomes possible.” Ravage was injured badly before he was dropped through the portal and he wanted to get back to make sure the young spy was alright. Soundwave had trusted him to keep him safe after all. 

“Well, we are stranded on Earth as well. Our ship crashed here while we were in stasis and we haven’t had the time or inclination to repair it considering there are other Cybertronians on Earth. Optimus has advised us to remain here and assist the humans to gain favor and good relations between humans and Autobots. I’m afraid we wouldn’t be much help in fighting Decepticons anyway as we were forged to be a search and rescue crew. We’re much more useful in the aftermath of battle.” Chase explained, gesturing in the direction of Whirl’s injured but healing frame in the other room.

“Speaking of, I’m about halfway through reconstructing his leg. It’ll be silver for a while but other than that it should be just about identical to his other one.

Megatron nodded gratefully. “He will be happy to have mobility again.”

“So that’s it then?” Rodimus spoke up. “Just wait for the humans to have a crisis and help out where we can?”

“It happens more often than you’d think.” Heatwave supplied.

“Greetings, Prime.”

“Greetings, Heatwave. What was the emergency you commed about?” Optimus’s voice and profile asked over the teleconsole.

“We’ve received visitors from another universe. An alternate reality where the war is over, Megatron is an Autobot, and the war’s end has not come with it the end of battle and cruelty.” Heatwave averted his eyes, still shaken by the state in which Whirl had arrived.

“Megatron? Are you safe?” Optimus couldn’t hold back the hint of panic in his voice.

“Yes, Prime. As I said, he is an Autobot. He has come with three other members of a crew. They were set out on a journey in space to find the Knights of Cybertron, but ran into trouble on the way. Megatron is co-captain with another of our visitors: Rodimus Prime.” Heatwave explained the story he’d been given by the three conscious mechs.

“Prime you say?” Optimus was thoughtful. “And the other two?” 

“Minimus Ambus, also known as Ultra Magnus and Maximus Ambus - I’m still somewhat unclear on his alter-egos - and Whirl. Both ex-Wreckers and Whirl was brought in bad shape from the battle they’d been in. He very nearly didn’t make it.” Heatwave added somberly.

After a pause, Optimus continued. “I’d like to speak with the captains tomorrow at this time.” He instructed, needing time to mull over what he’d been told and ensure he’d thought of all the questions he’d need to ask.

“Understood.” Heatwave said before they gave their farewells and signed off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whirl gets his leg back, the captains talk to Optimus, and the LL crew deal with their first Griffin Rock emergency.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is slightly shorter and tbh these are still gonna be slow in coming until, like, July. I hope you enjoy anyway because I love this fic idea and will definitely not be abandoning it. :)

“Wait!” Minimus shouted when he checked up on Whirl to see Boulder preparing to reattach his new leg while Whirl was sleeping.

“No worries. It won’t hurt and should be over with quickly.” Boulder smiled reassuringly.

“No. We must wake him and warn him first.” Minimus suggested, trying not to sound frantic.

Boulder looked confused. “There is really no reason for that. He will barely feel it.” He promised kindly, activated his welding tool.

Minimus sighed, accepting he would have to expose at least one of Whirl’s traumas to keep them all safe. “Please. Whirl has been the victim of nonconsensual medical procedures in the past. If he wakes up while you are working, regardless of pain, his reaction may be… violent.” 

Boulder averted his eyes from Minimus’. “Oh.” He said, sorrowfully. Boulder then pulled himself straighter, set town his torch and moved to the unconscious mech’s birth.

“Allow me, if you will.” Minimus spoke up. “He should awaken to someone he recognizes.”

Minimus stepped toward the berth at Boulder’s understanding nod. Boulder, for his part, was struggling with the reality of these mechs’ pasts. Never before had he imagined the cruelties their war could bring and found himself in a moral dilemma of sorts.

Minimus gently shook Whirl. He startled awake, moving to see his would-be attacker, and relaxed with a wince when he saw Minimus’ calm and familiar faceplates.

“Ouch.” Whirl said as he lay back down. “What do you want, moustache?” 

Minimus ignored the nickname. “Boulder is this base’s medic. He has reconstructed your leg and will be attaching it now.”

Boulder lifted the aforementioned leg with a kind smile.

Whirl went tense again, his armor and EM field clamping down, but managed a breezy. “Ok, then. Just get it over with.”

“It will be painless.” Boulder promised as he made his way closer.

Boulder finished quickly. Whirl stayed tense and uncharacteristically silent throughout, his optic narrowed in the mimicry of a clenched jaw.

“All done.” Boulder announced, setting his welder aside. “We will have to wait for it to fully reintegrate before-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. This isn’t my first rodeo, big guy.” Whirl said flippantly with a waving claw.

Boulder nodded with a sad expression. “Ok. I’ll leave you to rest then.” Minimus and Boulder left then, and Whirl didn’t relax until he was sure they were far enough away. The tension left his frame in a shaky exvent as he battled the beginning of a panic attack.

Megatron, Rodimus, and Heatwave stood in front of the teleconsole as Optimus connected on his end.

“Optimus, I’d like to introduce you to co-captains Megatron and Rodimus Prime of the Lost Light ship.” Heatwave said with a gesture at both of them as if it weren’t obvious which was which.

“Greetings. I’ve been told you are both visitors from another universe. Is this true?” Optimus asked warily. 

“Yes. This has happened to us once before, but we knew why and how we had been transported. This time, we are currently unaware as to how we ended up here.” Megatron answered diplomatically.

Optimus nodded. “Rodimus Prime. Does that title mean the same in your universe as it does ours?”

Rodimus shrugged. “Probably. We have one of you in our universe too. Long story short, you died and I, formerly Hot Rod, inherited the Matrix. Then you - he - came back to life, so there are just two primes. We split the Matrix, my half ended up broken, but I’ve kept the title.” He tried to explain his story succinctly.

Optimus nodded again, seeming to process this information. He then turned back to Megatron.

“In our universe, Megatron leads the Decepticons. However, I’ve been told you align yourself with the Autobots.” It wasn’t a question, but Megatron perceived it as one nonetheless.

Megatron heaved a long suffering sigh. “I was the leader of the Decepticons. When the war ended, I was forced to confront my actions and mistakes. I am currently seeking redemption on our journey and deeply regret all of the lives lost and misery caused during our war.”

Optimus hummed. “I can only hope our Megatron will seek similar redemption, however improbable.” He smiled at Megatron then. “I applaud your strength and conviction. I am sure this has not been an easy path.”

Megatron gave Optimus a tight smile. He couldn’t help but notice that this Optimus was far kinder and more considerate than his universe’s.

“Finally, I’d like to know what your plans are now in this universe.” Optimus reasserted his attention to both of them.

“We owe the Rescuebots for helping us. We were planning to assist them in whichever way they need while we recover and try to find a way back to our own universe to continue our journey.” Rodimus supplied.

“That sounds perfectly reasonable. I’d like to check in and possibly meet the rest of your crew that came through sometime soon.” Optimus finished.

They concluded the meeting with their farewells and closed down the teleconsole.

“He was nice.” Rodimus said with a smile up at Megatron.

“He was.” Megatron said, smiling back. He hooked an arm over Rodimus’ shoulders and led them from the communications room. Heatwave followed out behind them.

“Rescuebots! There’s a fire West of the river. The Burns will be ready to head out in two minutes so get transformed and ready to load up.” Heatwave bellowed.

The Rescuebots scattered to find appropriate places to transform outside. 

“I will stay with Whirl while he continues to heal. I’m afraid I won’t be much help at my current size and the armor we do have is too large to put on efficiently.” Minimus spoke up.

Heatwave nodded.

Megatron and Rodimus looked at each other and silently communicated. Rodimus shrugged and Megatron nodded before both of them followed the Rescuebots out to assist in the mission. The assembled Autobots and adults of the family arrived on scene quickly by cutting through traffic using their emergency sirens. Blades and Dani had arrived before the rest of them and were already pouring buckets of fire retardants onto the burning home. The family of residence were huddled outside, the young daughter crying.

“Is everything alright? Are you hurt?” Chase asked as the rest of the team got to work extinguishing the fire.

“My-my kitty. She-she’s still in…” The girl broke down into sobs and Chase’s spark broke for her.

“There’s a feline animal still in the building! Can anyone reach in without getting burned?” Chase asked to any ‘bot still listening.

“What a coincidence! I’m made for being surrounded by fire.” Rodimus stated proudly. He strutted toward the house and peered into the windows. He could hear the faint sound of a cat’s yowl and punched straight through the window in front of him.

“Careful, Rodimus!” Megatron admonished as he helped Boulder prevent debris from hurting anyone and control the fire’s spread.

“Got it!” He pulled out a small cat, covered in ash and clearly affected by breathing in such a smoky environment. Carefully, he lowered the small animal to the ground near the paramedics, fairly sure they could help the little thing. Afterall, mammals were mammals, right?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suuuuuper short chapter but I wanted to publish something before the end of February so here it is. Sorry about the cliffhanger, but hopefully I can get the next one out within a week. I'm currently working on outlining this thing so that I have an easier time actually writing it. Let me know what you think!

They’d only just arrived back at base when it happened.

“Slag!” Rodimus said as the base shook from above and the rest of the Autobots braced themselves.

“What was that?” Blades asked, panic heavily lacing his voice.

“Felt like a bomb.” Megatron growled.

“The Burns!” Heatwave shouted. “Ensuring their safety is our top priority.”

As soon as the Rescuebots set out to find their partners, Whirl and Minimus appeared, Whirl using a wall to keep himself upright.

“I’m gonna take the looks on your faces as to mean that that boom was not a super awesome fireworks welcome display.” Whirl said, gasping slightly.

Just then, the ceiling collapsed between the group and shouting broke through with the debris. 

“Everyone out!” Megatron said and jumped into action. He leaped over the rubble and lifted Whirl over his shoulder, earning him an indignant yelp and pinch on the aft. Megatron growled and jostled the mech on his shoulder for that as he helped Minimus over the rubble and leaped back over it himself to meet Rodimus outside. 

“Where are the Rescuebots?” Minimus inquired.

Rodimus answered him by pointing to the four bots frantically removing rubble from a collapsed portion of the station, but struggling to do so without causing anything else to collapse further. 

“Slaggitall.” Megatron grumbled as he placed Whirl on the ground none too gently and raced to assist the team, Rodimus and Minimus following shortly behind him. Four of the humans stood near them with anxious expressions, the youngest silently crying.

“What is going on?” Minimus asked.

“Chief Burns has been buried in the rubble. We are too big to go in and find him and it is too dangerous for the humans.” Chase replied shakily.

“I told you I can go!” Kade announced with anxious fury.

“No!” Heatwave boomed, stopping briefly in his work to glare at his partner.

“I will go in then.” Minimus declared.

“Absolutely not.” Megatron protested, attempting to grab Minimus’ shoulder.

He moved away deftly. “I will not have one of the inhabitants of this planet perish so shortly after we have arrived. You cannot believe this to be a coincidence.” Minimus said with authority and self-accusation before ducking into the tight space.

“Chief Burns! What is your location?” Minimus hollered into the narrow and still collapsing tunnel.

A rumble shook the barely-standing foundations and Minimus could just about make out a grown from deeper within.

“Hang on, I’m coming to get you.” He said with as much reassurance as he could.

Just as he had completely wedged himself within the space and caught sight of the man who looked unconscious but relatively unharmed, a second explosion barraged the base, giving Minimus only enough time to shield the frail human with his body before everything went black.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna try to update once a week this month, then there might be another short hiatus, we'll see. I'll be moderately less busy during the summer, especially after June. Anyway, hope you enjoy! The plot has begun!

“Minimus!” Rodimus yelled in a panic, watching helplessly as rubble collapsed over his second in command. 

The taste of dust and the smell of smoke filled the air, making the humans and nearby mechs cough for clean air. Their sight was muddled by the clouds of concrete dispersed by the explosion and it took a few moments for anyone to be able to see properly.

Whirl, who had been watching from a short distance, had the idea to look at where the bombing was coming from. “Hey!” He yelled and pointed a claw up toward a hovering silver fighter jet.

Upon being noticed, the flyer laughed and Rodimus, compensating for Megatron’s vow of peace, drew a blaster out of his subspace and fired at the sky. The jet gracefully dodged the onslaught and zipped away, leaving a trail of smoke and the scent of jet fuel in his wake.

“Dammit!” Megatron clenched his fists and his jaw, clearly frustrated and wishing he could vent through some violence without the crushing guilt it would cause him.

“What the fuck was that?!” Kade exclaimed while pointing at the empty spot in the sky that the jet had just inhabited. “We never agreed to get involved with your bullshit alien war!”

“Kade!” Dani admonished as she and Graham moved to comfort Cody who was now crying in earnest.

“I’m sorry.” Blades muttered quietly, shrinking in on himself.

“We didn’t exactly expect to get so involved either!” Heatwave argued back.

“We need to clear this rubble without disturbing the structural integrity too much.” Boulder interrupted the rage of the mecha and humans around him, voice quivering and unaccustomed to such violence and destruction.

“Right. Yes.” Megatron rubbed at his faceplates. “When I worked in the mines we had a few tips and tricks for saving people from collapsed tunnels, especially when the council wouldn’t spare any supplies for rescue missions.”

Chase nodded. “We can combine our experiences.”

Heatwave growled, but seemed to collect himself somewhat. “We had supplies specifically for this in the bunker but…” He gestured toward the rubble. “It’s a bit out of reach.”

“So we improvise.” Megatron said as he looked around. “We can use these trees as pillars for support to try to alleviate some of the weight. Heatwave, help me pull some up. Whirl, can you transform?”

Whirl, glad to finally be acknowledged, shrugged his shoulders. “Probably.” He went ahead and tried and though he was slower in his movements, he was able to fully transform into his alt mode. “Yay!” He hollered excitedly despite the heaviness of the situation.

Megatron sighed at his antics. “Good, go up and survey the area from above and see if there’s any sign of Minimus and the Chief.”

“Aw, man! I thought I was gonna get to chase the Deceptibitch.” Whirl whined.

Dani scowled and looked as if she wanted to cover Cody’s ears, but he was grieving too much to have even noticed the expletive language.

“Revenge is not our priority.” Megatron chastised as he and Heatwave moved their way across the lawn to tear down some trees.

“Yet.” Heatwave added. No one disagreed.

“We’ll go up with you.” Dani said solemnly, placing a gentle hand on Blades’ leg.

He looked down to her and they shared a somber and frightened look before Blades transformed and the two helicopters took off to search for their missing teammates. 

By the time the two mechs on the ground had pulled up a few trees and constructed some planks for leverage, a comm came in from above.

“We found something!” Dani said to Heatwave.

“What is it?” He asked.

“A clear area we can land in that was closer to where Dad and, uh”

“Minimus.” Heatwave supplied.

“Right, Minimus, were when the second bomb went off. If we land there we can get to them faster and safer.” Dani said.

“Great. Land back here first and grab some tools, then you can go in and get to work.” Heatwave sighed in relief, though it wasn’t over yet.

Whirl hovered in the air as Blades landed back on the outskirts of the rubble and his undercarriage was loaded with the planks of bark and splintered wood, his and Whirl’s rotor blades redispersing the dust throughout the air. 

Blades returned to the clear area and landed, Whirl following after him. Whirl unloaded Blades’ undercarriage with a few lingering touches, making him squirm as much as was possible while he was in his alt mode.

“Blades, you’re really jostling me around in here, what are you doing?” Dani complained.

“Sorry!” Blades squeaked. 

Whirl snickered and tickled Blades under his cockpit, causing him to squeal and jerk. Whirl laughed in earnest and Dani growled, her head having been knocked into the back of her seat.

“Can we please take this operation seriously?” She glared up at Whirl after getting out of Blades, allowing him to transform, looking sheepish. “My father is buried under that rubble!”

Whirl waved her off. “If he’s not dead, a little fun won’t change that.”

Dani and Blades gawked at him.

“You are so insensitive!” Dani pointed an accusing finger at him.

“Sure am. And proud of it!” Whirl responded light-heartedly as he put his claws on his hips.

Blades shook his head and Dani clenched her fists. “Whatever. Let’s get to work.” Dani said tightly.

Consciousness slowly returned to Minimus and his processors started to take stock of the situation before he was even fully aware. He felt cramped, but his load-bearing spark was assisting in his ability to hold up the tremendous weight above him. It was dark, pitch black, and his ventilators were full of dust and smoke, making his mouth taste ashy with a hint of energon from his bleeding mouth. He could tell he was on his elbows and knees, but he couldn’t quite tell which way was up. His optics finally powered back up, casting a faint glow around him. He finally saw the reason for his odd position, considering he’d had a building fall on him and would expect to be flat to the ground. 

Chief Burns, conscious but clearly confused and unaware, winced at the light.

Minimus exhaled with relief, glad he had been able to save the officer’s life. “Apologies, are you alright?” He asked as softly as he could manage.

“Who are you? Where am I?” The Chief furrowed his brows.

Minimus furrowed his brow ridges right back. “I am Minimus Ambus and we are currently buried under the collapsed remnants of your home.” Minimus explained.

That didn’t seem to clarify anything for the Chief, who squeezed his eyes shut tightly. “My head…” He groaned.

“I am afraid you may be concussed, but I do not know the proper treatments for such an ailment in humans. Hopefully we will be rescued soon so that we can get you proper treatment.” Minimus explained tremulously. 

The Chief only groaned again.

After several minutes of Minimus desperately searching his scrambled processors for any information he had on human concussions, light broke through from his side and the rubble shifted around him.

“Dad!” Minimus breathed a sigh of relief, their rescuers having finally arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for 100+ kudos!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh, this one gets a little heavier. Also, it's a day late, but at least I'm trying, right? And just by the way, this is no slander on Heatwave. In fact, I adore him. He just has a temper and he's damn young so he's gonna say stupid stuff when he's tired and scared. Anyway, I hope everyone is staying calm and healthy among the disaster that is the coronavirus. Stay safe and stay sane everybody.

As soon as Minimus and Chief Burns had been rescued, Chase drove the Chief and his children quickly to the hospital, set to remain there until the Chief came out again. Megatron checked Minimus over, who was relatively unscathed, as Heatwave called Optimus on his internal comm.

“This is Optimus Prime.” He heard as the comm was picked up.

“Prime. Sorry to call you this way, but we’ve got a situation here. Our base was attacked by who we can only assume were the Decepticons.” Heatwave replied, his voice rough with trauma and exhaustion.

There was a harsh intake of breath on the other end. “Is everyone alright?” Optimus asked, his voice filled with concern and a little guilt.

“Everyone will recover. However, our base has been completely destroyed and we’ve been left essentially defenseless.” Heatwave said with a hint of genuine fear. “We have no idea why they attacked or if they’re planning to do so again. They haven’t seemed to even know we existed until now.”

“It seems I’ve made a mistake in keeping you out of this war. I had hoped to spare you, but it was futile in the end and only endangered you further.” Regret filled the other line. “I will send Bumblebee to you as quickly as possible with supplies.”

“Thanks, Prime. We’ll be expecting him in the next few days.” With that he disconnected the call and turned to his team. “Ok, everybody. Clean up operation. We’ve got building supplies from the town, so let’s get this rubble out and start rebuilding.”

It had gotten dark some time ago and the air was growing colder. All their energon had been buried in the rubble or aided in the explosion and the only place they could recharge was out in the open and exposed to another attack, so seven mechs worked exhaustively to recover what they could from the ruins of their home base. It would have been eight, but Chase refused to leave the hospital without the Chief. Heatwave would have argued, insisted they needed his help, but there really wasn’t that much he could’ve added to the work force and he understood that the mech was desperate and terrified for his partner. 

Whirl’s leg had begun to bother him, but he pushed through it in order to recover a semi-safe place to recharge. He could be serious when he wanted to - really! He only needed the right incentive and at the moment, energon and rest was just that.

Blades channeled his growing fear and anxiety into the work he was doing. He’d never been more terrified in his life. Never before had he felt his life was genuinely threatened, not intentionally. Now, though, there were Decepticons, actual Decepticons, who for reasons unknown wanted him dead, or at least didn’t mind having him as collateral damage. His processors were fried with worry and worked he mechanically as his thoughts went a mile a minute. He could practically feel the energy being burned by his heightened fear and processing power, but he couldn’t quite make himself stop, regardless of the endless list of reasons that he needed to.

Whirl, being the closest to Blades, felt as his EM field spiked and flared with anxiety. He tried to work through it, but it was getting annoying and the last thing they needed was the little ‘copter passing out amidst everything else. That would mean waiting even longer for his energon and recharge time. Therefore, he stopped what he was doing and made his way over to the silently panicking mech working autonomously. 

“Hey.” Whirl tried to get Blades’ attention to no effect. 

“Hello.” He song-songed, still going entirely ignored.

Losing his patience rather quickly, he grabbed the other’s arm to stop his movement and turned Blades’ head forcefully to look him in the optic.

“Stop for a second, will you? I could feel your freak-out from twenty feet away.” He said with a surprisingly gentle tone, even to himself.

Blades, unable to help himself all of a sudden, broke down into sobs and fell into the arms of the ‘bot before him.

“Woah. What the hell?” Whirl was surprised beyond measure. He’d comforted a mech mid panic attack before, sure, but Cyclonus had never sought physical comfort. This was way out of Whirl’s area of expertise, but he rolled with it, not quite sparkless enough to push a sobbing young mech away. “Alright, bubble butt, cry it out I guess.” Whirl tentatively wrapped his arms around the shorter mech and tried for a soothing grip. Whirl hadn’t met a mech innocent enough to trust like this since the very beginning of the war. They’d all died out pretty quickly, or so he’d thought. This sort of public intimacy and weakness was unheard of among Autobots, much less the Wreckers. He couldn’t help but realize that he’d been pretty lacking in physical affection, his own trust issues getting in the way of that, and holding this innocent and seemingly harmless mech was the most relaxed he’d felt in centuries.

The ‘bots around them had looked up in mixed surprise and bewilderment at first, but went back to work rather quickly to avoid embarrassing the two embracing helicopters.

Whirl stroked a rotor blade, something he knew used to relax him before his empurata and the following months where any touch at all was unbearable. Blades let out a contented sigh and his sobs started to calm into soft whimpers and sniffles. As he drew back, he rubbed his optics with the backs of his hands and Whirl felt his spark melt a little.

“Primus. You’re almost as adorable as Tailgate.” He blurted out.

“Huh?” Blades looked exhausted and emotionally wrung-out, but significantly less terrified, which Whirl would count as a win. 

“Nothing. Go recharge for a bit. I’ll keep watch over you.” Whirl said.

Blades shook his head vehemently. “No! I can’t just go to sleep while everyone else works!” He protested.

“No, all of you should.” Megatron piped up from a little ways away. “You’ve been through something traumatic and you’re not used to that. We’re never going to get all this done before we fall into stasis anyway, so you three get some rest and we’ll make sure you stay safe.”

Now it was Heatwave’s turn to protest. “You went through the same thing! If you’re not going to rest, we shouldn’t either.”

“Meh, we’re used to it.” Rodimus piped up. “We’ve been through a lot more and have had to work a lot harder. There’s no reason for you to have to know what that’s like.” He added with a somber tone.

“Don’t patronize us! We’re perfectly capable of working through exhaustion. Stop acting like you’re better than us!” Heatwave was nearly yelling at this point and his facade was quickly cracking, tears welling up in his optics as his frustration boiled over.

“We do not believe ourselves superior to you, only older and more experienced. In our universe, the war is over, we only hope to save the innocence of any spark we still can.” Minimus tried to soothe the younger mech.

“Well it’s not over for us! In fact, it just showed up on our front door step. Maybe we have to lose our ‘innocence’ if we want to survive this! Besides, the only thing that you’ve seem to have lost is your kindness, if you even had any in the first place.” Heatwave spat.

Whirl was on him in a moment, backing him into one of the remaining trees in the yard. “Is that what you think?” He asked, snapping a claw next to Heatwave’s face. “You think you know a damn thing about what we’ve lost? Look at me, for frag’s sake! You think I was forged like this? You think my pod naturally shaped into claws only good for hurting and an optic only good for scouting?” One of the aforementioned claws wrapped around Heatwave’s neck, not squeezing, but holding him still.

“Whirl!” Megatron shouted, advancing on him to put a stop to Whirl’s rage.

“Hold it there, buckethead. I think the brat needs to learn a little more about what this war will really mean for him and his little team.” Whirl growled. “You would be broken by the things I’ve seen, the things I’ve done. War is the pit, do you understand? It’s not just fighting and destruction, that’s the happy fucking days. It’s torture, psychological and physical. It’s sparklings watching their creators brutally murdered in front of them and then recruited by the first mech to grab them. It’s brutal scientific experiments only a slim number of mechs can survive, and they come out of them twisted and sick. It’s nightmares every recharge cycle until you’re taking circuit boosters to stay awake just a little bit longer or drowning yourself in engex to shut your processor off enough to recharge dreamlessly. It’s hurting yourself or hurting others because the pain from the past is always there but it dims a bit when you can cause a little pain in the present. It’s not understanding how you could have fallen so far, done so much bad to survive that you have to wonder if it was worth it, if you shouldn’t just end it all anyway because the things you’ve done and the person you’ve become don’t belong in peace time.” He pushed himself away from Heatwave and marched past Megatron, looking mournful and guilty. “You don’t know a slagging thing. So sit down, shut up, and recharge while you can. Or don’t. Frag if I care.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one, but at least it's mostly on time lmao. I think I'm going to dedicate April to finishing this and then update it regularly throughout May. That's the goal anyway. Enjoy!

They managed to get the rubble cleaned up and recycled and the foundations for a new base underway within a few days.

After Whirl and Heatwave’s argument, Heatwave and Boulder largely avoided Whirl, Heatwave because he was angry and processing, and Boulder because he was unsure of the mech and didn’t want to set him off, for his own well being and Whirl’s. Blades and Chase, however, were still friendly with him. Chase hadn’t been there and he was far too practical to consider an argument with Heatwave as anything groundbreaking. As for Blades, he was starting to really warm up to the strange mech. He had been there for him, even if he was still closed-off and hiding behind his humor. In a lot of ways, that was a comfort for him too. He made Blades laugh in a time where he felt like his entire life was falling apart. 

Chase had returned after dropping the family off at Griffin Rock's inn as soon as the Chief was allowed to leave the hospital. He needed six months of rest but was expected to make a full recovery except for having no memory of the event which caused his concussion in the first place nor the days leading up to it, but the doctors had assured them that that was perfectly normal for a concussion of that degree. Chase still seemed worried and tense, but all the Rescuebots kept in contact with their partners and were growing more and more reassured that they were alright and out of harm's way everyday that passed without incident.

Bumblebee arrived as they were finishing the foundations for the building, and pulled to a screeching stop on the street before quickly transforming and striding towards the team.

“Woah.” Rodimus whistled. “That’s Bee?” He asked with some awe, earning him an elbow from Megatron, though he was just as shocked.

Bumblebee greeted them with a cheerful whir and waved a hand.

“What’s he talking like a sparkling for?” Rodimus wondered aloud. 

Bumblebee must have heard him, because he answered as he continued to approach. “My voice box was ripped out by Megatron - this universe’s Megatron.” He quickly corrected in a series of clicks and whistles with a shy glance at the Megatron before him.

“I’m sorry,” Megatron couldn’t help but say. It wasn’t him who’d caused the injury, but he may as well have. He’d done worse things in the grips of his rage and madness during the war after all. 

Bumblebee waved him off, but kept his distance with some apprehension. 

“I’ve brought weapons and defenses.” He continued while he pulled a few boxes out of his subspace, clearly having filled it to the max. “There’s a blaster for everyone and a few energy swords. I also brought some supplies for adding transformable weapons to your servos and increased durability armor if you’d like.”

“I think I’ll stick to hand to hand. Don’t really have much trigger pulling capacity.” Whirl said with a snap of his claw.

Rodimus picked up an energy sword. “Ah, yes! So glad I took those lessons from Drift. An energy bow and arrow would’ve been cooler, but these’ll do.” 

“Bow and arrow?” Heatwave asked with some judgement.

“Oh, yeah. Those were the days. Comet surfing and arrow shooting with the Wreckers!” He elbowed Whirl.

“Wreck n’ rule!” Whirl answered with a shove back.

Megatron sighed at their antics. “I’m afraid I won’t be of much use with these.” He said as Minimus found a blaster his size and began to inspect it.

Bumblebee gave a questioning trill.

“I’ve made a vow of peace. I will not hurt another life as long as I live, not even in self-defense.” He explained.

Bumblebee’s brow ridges shot up and he made a thoughtful noise before nodding. He then gestured at the weapons and gave a look to the Rescuebots who were standing a nervous distance away.

“We have never used instruments of war before.” Chase piped up for the rest of them.

The rest of the ‘bots, including Bumblebee, looked at them with surprise.

“I knew you weren’t involved right here and right now, but never? They didn’t train you at all before they shipped you off in stasis?” Bumblebee inquired.

Heatwave shook his head. “Like we said, we were commissioned for search and rescue missions. We’re who comes in after the battle is done.”

“We’ll have to train you then because I don’t think the Decepticons give a flying frag about what you were commissioned for.” Rodimus said with determination. 

“Speaking of,” Bumblebee piped up, “what exactly happened here? Why did they attack now?”

“A silver jet bombed the base and took off right after we caught a glimpse of him. We don’t know why.” Megatron supplied.

“Any idea who the little shit was, Bumby?” Whirl asked in a deceptively sweet tone.

“Don’t call me that. And that must have been Starscream.” Bumblebee answered. 

There were sharp inhales from the Lost Light and concerned whimpers from the Rescuebots at the mention of that name. Even the Rescuebots had heard of the infamous Starscream and he carried some reputation. 

“Starscream?” Blades whispered in horror.

“He looks different.” Megatron said, cold fury and agonizing guilt battling across his features.

“Let’s hope he’s not as bad as ours then.” Rodimus said quietly. Sure, he knew he could take him, but the Rescuebots? Not a chance in hell.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final decision: I am going to post a chapter once a month until it is finished, at which point I will post weekly. Hope you enjoy!

Bumblebee left with promises to figure out why the Decepticons had decided to attack the Rescuebots’ base, leaving the Lost Light crew to train the rescue team in basic defense and weaponry. 

They decided to pair off; Rodimus with Heatwave, Megatron with Boulder, Minimus with Chase, and Whirl with Blades.

“Okie dokie. What do you wanna start with, hand to hand or weaponry?” Whirl asked, sounding excited.

“Um, I’m not a big fan of weapons.” Blades admitted shyly. 

“What? Weapons are awesome! They’re, like, the ultimate form of self expression as long as you’re angry and violent.” Whirl said with no small amount of pride. 

Blades remained looking unsure and nervous so Whirl waved him off. “Hand to hand, then.” He gestured the smaller ‘copter over to him and Blades approached cautiously.

Whirl laughed softly. “Don’t worry. I’m not gonna tackle you… yet.” He said with a wink.

“Most important thing you need to know right now is defense. Not my area of expertise, but hopefully I can teach you enough to keep you alive next time you’re not so lucky.” Whirl shrugged and Blades gulped, but soon shook off his nerves and nodded.

“Let’s start with your stance. One foot in front of the other like this and keep your helm and spark protected with your arms.” Whirl modeled the position and Blades copied his movements. 

Whirl nodded. “Good. Now we’ll do some slow motion blocking techniques. Stay like that.” Blades obeyed as Whirl walked closer to him. “Most mechs are gonna go straight for the helm. Dodge when you can, block when you can’t.” Whirl grabbed Blades’ hips and twisted them just slightly to adjust his position, making energon rise to the younger copter's faceplates.

Whirl went through showing him basic blocks for different strikes, adjusting the angles of his limbs and torso with lingering touches until Blades was blushing fiercely and struggling to think clearly, his EM field projecting an innocent and embarrassed sort of interest. 

“You alright Bubblebutt?” Whirl asked with laughter in his voice.

Blades nodded vigorously.

“You sure? You’re looking a little bothered. Need a break already?” He teased, a hint of sadistic pleasure coloring his tone.

Blades glared in a rare show assertiveness. “I’m fine.” He declared, a slight wavering in his voice directly contradicting his statement. “What’s next?”

Whirl perked up at the challenge. “Well, now I oughta teach you how to get out of grabs and holds.” 

Faster than Blades could hope to follow, Whirl ran behind him and grabbed him around his torso, trapping his arms to his sides. Blades let out a startled squeak, much to his chagrin.

“Now then, Cutie-patootie, try and get away with all your might.” Whirl chuckled with anticipation. 

“Are you ever gonna call me by my real name?” Blades asked with exasperation.

“Maybe if you can outta my hold before I teach you how, you’ll have earned that.” Whirl challenged.

Blades set his face into one of determination and began to struggle, experimentally at first, and gaining strength overtime. Eventually, impatience took over and Blades started trying to kick and hit Whirl anywhere he could reach with every limb he had free, but he couldn’t get the leverage or momentum he needed and Whirl was easily able to take the brunt of his struggles. Blades realized his current plan of attack wasn’t working and he was going to have to think outside the box on this one. He tried to think of anything else he had at his disposable which he could use to get out. If there was one thing the Rescuebots were capable of just as much as any other Autobot, it was improvising. 

An idea struck him and he followed through immediately, engaging his rotor blades, smacking Whirl across the head with one hard enough to make him loosen his hold on Blades enough for him to break out of it.

When he turned around and looked at Whirl, there was a crazed expression in his optic, but it didn’t scare Blades because he could feel the joy radiating off him, as well as something like excitement, something that felt a lot like Blades’ interest from earlier. Blades offered a victorious smile.

“Well done, Blades.” Whirl said, and Blades’ smile brightened even further. “Alright, get over here, I gotta show you how to get outta that properly when your cute little tricks don’t work.” 

Blades nodded and walked back over to where Whirl was standing, still looking half-crazed, exulting in pride and excitement after his small victory. 

As soon as he was in reach, Whirl spun him around and pressed his back against him hard, wrapping his arms around him the same as he had before, but drawing him closer this time. Blades felt this was more intimate somehow and squirmed a bit. Whirl let out a harsh exvent. “Stop moving so much or you’re gonna release the beast.” He warned. Blades wasn’t sure what that meant, but he stilled anyway, instead soaking in the warmth and security of being held by someone who, despite everything, he was starting to trust. 

“Alright, sometimes you can get away with just dropping your weight, but most of these guys are gonna be trickier than that, so in addition you gotta push out and up with your arms. Think you can manage that?” Whirl explained and it took a moment for Blades to realize he was teaching him out to get out of the hold.

Blades nodded and tried, dropping his weight and pushing his arms out from his body, but Whirl held fast. Blades made frustrated noise and Whirl chuckled. “Do it faster, you gotta catch them off guard and do it all at once, use all the strength and speed you’ve got, ‘cause this could be life or death someday.” Whirl advised.

Blades nodded and tried again, getting halfway out of Whirl’s hold before he clamped down around him again. Blades whined this time. He was so close!

“Primus, you’ve got a vocalizer!” Whirl’s voice had gone deeper and Blades noticed his frame was heating up behind him. Whirl took a deep breath. “You gotta keep it up. As soon as I loosened up a little, you gave up and let me get you again. Use your dropping and arms to start, but fight all the way until you’re free.”

Blades nodded again and collected himself to try one more time. He dropped his weight and put all the strength he had in him toward pushing his arms out and up to loosen Whirl’s hold on them. As soon as Whirl’s grip loosened the slightest bit, Blades lifted his arms above his and planted his feet on the ground. He used his freed arms to push at Whirl who still held his waist as his feet tried to get him running away. 

“Okay, okay. Settle down here.” Whirl said, discomfort in his tone as Blades continued trying to push him away. Blades stopped trying to get away and relaxed, but Whirl still held him tight around the waist.

“That was good. From here you could start punching and elbowing or you could grab your blaster and shoot my helm right off my shoulders.” Blades frowned deeply, his eyes going wide at the thought of using a weapon like that. “That’s good enough for now. With practice, you’ll be able to get out of that hold and on your way before they even realize they’ve got you.” Whirl said, releasing Blades, at last.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is, like, offensively short, but I this doesn't really fit in with what comes before and after, so here you go. A little goofiness before the drama picks up again next chapter.

“Oh, and one time Boulder, Heatwave, and I were all miniaturized by a shrink ray and fell into the sewers!” Blades exclaimed.

Whirl gave a hearty laugh. “You guys seem to get into just as fragging crazy adventures as we do, though we have a few more casualties on ours.”

“Oh,” Blades responded with an awkward chuckle, still not completely sure about when Whirl was joking or not.

They sat on the lawn outside a half-rebuilt search and rescue station, awaiting the remaining supplies needed from the island to restore the building fully. The team still hadn’t heard back from team Prime on why the Decepticons had attacked and what they could possibly do about it. In the meantime, the Rescuebots had progressed in their hand to hand combat skills and defensive techniques, though Blades and Boulder were still timid when it came to handling weapons.

“So what’s it like living surrounded by organics?” Whirl asked.

“I don’t really remember a life of much else. After we got our basic programming, we were pretty much immediately shipped off in stasis. The base we were built at was attacked so they didn’t have time to set a location. I’m not sure if we were even supposed to leave Cybertron at all or if they sent us out because it was our best chance of survival.” Blades admitted pensively. “I don’t actually remember what our mentor looked like now that I think about it.”

“It seems everyone in this war has a sob story, even your innocent afts.” Whirl teased, poking Blades in the mid-section.

Blades huffed in response.

“Seriously though, are humans the cool kind of organics you can chat with in an asteroid bar, or the ones that freak out about mechanics interfacing, as if that’s an organics-only experience.” Whirl rolled his optic and waved a claw at the belief.

“Interfacing? Like, communicating or connecting equipment?” Blades asked, confusion in his voice.

Whirl burst into laughter. “Connecting equipment! That is the best euphemism I think I’ve ever heard!” He continued to laugh hysterically, gasping to try to re-regulate his temperature. 

“Euphemism?” Blades asked again, still confused.

“Oh, stop it with the confused and innocent act. I know you must have bumped uglies with your rescue friends at some point.” Whirl winked by squinting only one half of his optic. 

Blades frowned. “I really don’t understand, but that sounds vulgar.”

“You mean you - you really don’t - I thought you were just a tease!” Whirl’s optic grew large and round in his surprise. “When you said ‘basic programming,’ just how basic did you mean?”

Blades now looked embarrassed as it became clear that he was ignorant on something that Whirl made seem so important and obvious. “Um, language programs, computational analysis, situational reasoning, stuff like that.” He gave a shrug. “Like I said, they shipped us off fast. They gave us just enough to survive on a strange world and perform our duties as search and rescue operatives.”

“Wow.” Whirl was stunned for a moment. “So, you’ve never wondered what the hardware between your legs was for?” He inquired.

“What?” Blades squeaked, his faceplates heating. “You mean, like, waste disposal?” He murmured, even more embarrassed now. 

“Oh, Primus.” Whirl groaned. “Frag me, I can’t give you The Talk! I am definitely not mature enough.” He chuckled a little imagining it. “I’ll see if Megs or Mustachio can explain it to you.”

With that, he leapt up and strode off to find them, leaving Blades still sitting confused and nervous on the lawn. “Um, okay?”

**Author's Note:**

> Culture shock and misunderstandings are easily the funniest things in the world to me along with awkward situations and the phrase "I thought it was a good idea at the time." I wanted to make most, if not all, of those things happen here to make myself laugh and maybe a cry a bit lmao.


End file.
